BRADLEY Wiggins heaved a sigh of relief yesterday when he kept a grip of the Tour de France yellow jersey.

BRADLEY Wiggins heaved a sigh of relief yesterday when he kept a grip of the Tour de France yellow jersey.

The Brit maintained a 10-second gap between himself and Cadel Evans but was pushed every inch of Stage 8 from Belfort to Porrentruy, especially as the Aussie battled furiously in a bid to gain vital seconds in the closing moments.

The Englishman heaped praise on his fellow Team Sky members when he said: “It was a lot harder than I expected it to be.

“I was surprised at the size of the group over the last climb but we were there and we were present so it was a good day for the team.

“All of the boys were incredible, they really marshalled the race fantastically and set us up to be able to go with them on the last climb. It was a tough day for a lot of people.”

Vincenzo Nibali remained 16 seconds behind in third place, while Wiggins’s team-mate, Chris Froome, winner of stage seven, charged from ninth to sixth place in the overall standings.

Wearing the yellow jersey when the Tour hits Paris on July 22 is a dream for Wiggins.

Speaking in fluent French, discussing everything from Wimbledon to the Olympics, the three-time Olympic champion is quite convinced he is already in a tremendous position heading into the next couple of days.

He said: “‘It’s a fantastic position to be in after the first week and two tough days down.

“The time trial is on Monday then we have a rest day so it’s certainly some of the toughest ones ticked off, that’s for sure.”

Froome was delighted after helping Wiggins hold off the formidable challenge of Evans.

He said: “Cadel tried and a lot of people were trying today to put us under pressure but Bradley’s in super form and we’ve all worked really, really hard for this so we’re not just going to let this thing get away from us so easily.”

Froome admits he does not expect the relentless pressure of the Tour to let up and revealed he is not particularly relishing today’s 41.5km time trial to Besancon. He said: “Time trials are one of the hardest cycling disciplines – you’ve just got to brace yourself,.

“Turn yourself inside out to get the best time possible. It’s something Bradley excels in so hopefully it should be a good day for us.

“I’ll give it my very best shot and see where I finish up at the end of the day.”

The only downside for Froome is that he lost the King of the Mountains polka dot jersey to Astana’s Fredrik Kessiakoff.

He added: “The jersey wasn’t another objective for me coming to the Tour de France so it was a bonus.”

On a day when the main contenders were expected to conserve energy for the time trial, Wiggins and Co had to endure a frantic opening.

A breakaway was anticipated to succeed on a route featuring seven categorised climbs but dangermen up the road meant Team Sky led the peloton’s pursuit until the front group was stripped of riders considered a threat to Wiggins.

Olympic Samuel Sanchez crashed out and is not expected to defend his title in London. The Spaniard, who started the day in 12th, suffered a suspected fractured collarbone.

Frenchmen Pinot and Gallopin were one minute behind at the summit of the penultimate climb but the decisive action was to take place on the ascent and descent of the Col de la Croix, a brutal category one climb featuring some of the steepest slopes in the race.

As Pinot overtook Kessiakoff, few were able to keep pace with the yellow jersey group, which reached the summit one minute 35 seconds behind.

The summit came 16km from the finish and Nibali dominated the descent before Jurgen van den Broeck attacked 2km from the end.

Evans joined him and the duo found clear road but Wiggins was able to drag himself and the chase group back for the finale.

He said: “I was trying to maintain as calm an approach as possible on the final climb.

“I’d never have predicted the size of that group at the top of the climb. I didn’t expect us to go as hard as we did but we were ready for it and it was good to be there with those guys at the end.”

Wiggins, as leader, will be last to roll down the time trial start ramp. He added: “It will be a case of sticking to my race and I’ll hopefully take time on those guys.”